


Gift of Knowledge

by indigorose50



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Birthday, Birthday Presents, Friendship, Gen, Nonbinary My Unit | Byleth, Pre-Time Skip, Slight Byleth/Seteth because I have a need, Slight Felix/Ferdinand because shut up, Training
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-21
Updated: 2020-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:34:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,422
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22825723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigorose50/pseuds/indigorose50
Summary: “You don’t want to go into town tonight, do you?”“Not even a little bit.”“Would you like to train instead?”(aka Happy Birthday Felix let's fight)
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius & My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	Gift of Knowledge

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday Felix! Made it just in time.

The sun setting on Garreg Mach had never filled Felix with more dread. Perhaps dread was not what most people would feel on their birthday but then Felix was not most people.

The day had started off surprisingly okay. Annette had woken Felix up with an original birthday song and an array of breakfast dishes she and Flyan had prepared together. As much as he had detested being woken up so suddenly, the breakfast itself had been nice. And it was always a treat to hear an Annette original song.

Walking to class had proved treacherous. Students from all Houses called a ‘happy birthday’ to him. Some, like a red faced Ferdinand, had even given him gifts. In the classroom, his fellow Blue Lions were all smiles. It had been unnerving. 

Lunch had been a downright fiasco. Dorothea had insisted on serenading him with an old opera song as he got his food. No one had put a stop to it, since they were all idiots, so Felix had spun around to snap at her and inadvertently scared a trio of cats nearby.

Felix still felt guilty about that.

He tried to pin the blame on a pouting Dorothea but Sylvain came out of nowhere, scooped up Felix like he was some tantrum-throwing toddler, and carried him to the classroom where Mercedes was decorating his cake. 

“But it’s not ready!” She had complained.

“He needs a time out,” Sylvain had replied.

“I hate you all,” Felix had stated.

After classes started again in the afternoon, Felix thought he was safe from all the celebration. But then Hilda had popped in just as they were finishing up and called out, “Who’s ready for a celebratory night on the town?!”

The Blue Lions had cheered. Felix had sunk lower in his chair.

And now, with the sun almost gone and the ‘night on the town’ in his honor looming closer, Felix all but ran into the training grounds. It was the first place his friends would look for him but maybe he could get some training in before the inevitable.

Already the quiet of the training grounds was soothing him. He didn’t mind attention on the battlefield— in fact the more people who witnessed his skill the better. But so many different people trying to make him smile was….

Okay it was touching but did they have to be so obnoxious?

With a sigh, Felix turned toward the weapons rack.

“Good evening.”

Felix didn’t jump in surprise so much as he grabbed the nearest weapon, an axe, and hurled it behind him with more force than accuracy. The Professor dodged it smoothly by stepping an inch to the left and letting it whip past their shoulder.

“Don’t sneak up on me!” Felix said by way of apology.

“I’ll remember that,” the Professor said. 

Felix willed his heart to go back to beating at a normal rate. He turned to the weapons rack to look for his preferred sword. “What do you want? Are you here to invite me to tea?”

“No. But I do still owe you a birthday gift.”

“I think those idiots have given me enough gifts to last several birthdays. No need to worry yourself.”

“Too bad. I already got you something.”

With a sigh, Felix faced the Professor again. “Fine. What?”

“You don’t want to go into town tonight, do you?”

“Not even a little bit.”

“Would you like to train instead?”

Felix’s knee jerk reaction was to say yes and point his sword. But something in the Professor’s tone sounded… almost coy. Had they ever sounded that way before? It was rare for them to speak in anything other than a monotone. “That’s your gift?” He scoffed. “A sparring session?”

The Professor shook their head. “Not with me.”

Clearly that was some sort of code word because someone stepped out of the shadows and into the torchlight. Felix stared with open confusion as Seteth approached. His normal robes had been replaced with grey training gear, which exposed well-honed arm muscles. In his left hand he held a long lance. It was clearly wooden, meant for practice, but the style was one Felix had never seen before.

“Your gift to me is Seteth?” Felix asked flatly.

To his surprise, Seteth actually chuckled at that and the Professor smiled. “In a manner of speaking.”

Seteth took a step forward. “Would you care to spar, Felix?”

Felix didn’t hold back his derisive snort. “Sorry, but my House has three lance users I grew up around.” Not to mention the ever eager Leonie and Ferdinand. “I know how to fight a lance. It’s barely a challenge anymore.”

Instead of berating him for talking that way to someone as high ranking as Seteth, the Professor merely smiled again. They and Seteth shared a look that, once again, came off as coy. “Would you like to back that up?” The Professor asked.

Without waiting for a reply, Seteth moved to the far end of the sparring ring. He spun the lance around and arched an eyebrow at Felix. His confidence was clear. Felix wanted to knock it down.

“Beats going out,” he mumbled as he passed the Professor. He took his position opposite Seteth. “This will be quick, old man.”

And it was quick.

Except that it was Felix who was knocked down.

He lay flat on his back, slightly dazed for more reasons than one, his sword some ten feet away. Seteth held the end of his lance against Felix chest. Right over his heart. A clear win.

“What style was that?” Felix demanded. Behind him, the Professor chuckled. 

Seteth flashed a grin. “One you will never see from another living being.”

How evasive. Felix pushed the lance off his chest and got to his feet. He looked over at the Professor. “So your gift is actually knowledge? How academic of you.” They simply nodded, still looking amused. Hopefully they could read his gratitude between the lines because Felix certainly wasn’t going to say it so plainly. He turned to Seteth. “Again.”

“Do you Promise to last longer than half a minute?” Seteth asked, tilting his head with that grin still in place.

Before Felix could respond, there came a shout from the doors. “You use a  _ lance _ ?!”

What looked like half the school stood in the doorway. Right up front were the Blue Lions. Sylvain went on once Felix, Seteth, and the Professor were all looking at him. “I thought he was like…” He wiggled his fingers in front of him. “Like… magic! A  _ lance _ ?!”

“My brother was never good at magic,” Flayn said, ducking under Sylvain’s outstretched arms to wave at Seteth. He waved back with a slight scowl.

“Go away,” Felix demanded. “Go into town or whatever. I’m busy.”

There was a mix of protests, the loudest from Sylvain, until the Professor stepped forward to speak to them in low tones. Felix retrieved his sword and pointed it at Seteth. “Again,” he repeated.

Seteth leveled his lance at Felix. “As you wish.”

Ignoring everything going on at the door, Felix charged. Seteth continued to use moves Felix had never seen. His footwork kept him almost unpredictable. At least this time Felix lasted almost two minutes. He winced as he stood for a second time.

“Go Felix!”

“Y-You can do it, Felix!”

“Have courage, Felix! Just like the knights of old!”

“Kick his ass, Felix!”

The cheers were coming from all around him. Felix’s eyes widened as he realized the crowd at the door had turned into an audience around the sparring circle. All the Blue Lions, half the Black Eagles, Leonie, Hilda, and even Lysithea were cheering him on.

The Professor caught Felix’s eye and shrugged. He glared at them. This had probably been their plan all along.

Fine then. Felix kicked his sword back into his hand. If they wanted a show, they were going to get one. 

“This wasn’t in our arrangement,” Seteth called to the Professor. 

“I’ll make it up to you,” the Professor called back. Yeah that was definitely a coy tone. Seteth’s face flushed. Hilda wolf whistled and received a glare from Seteth which she giggled at.

“No more talking,” Felix said, smiling for the first time in hours. “Show me more, old man!”

Seteth spun the lance around with renewed vigor. “Your move, student.”

The crowd roared as Felix charged. This was familiar. This was  _ fun _ .

Perhaps fighting was not what most people would want on their birthday.

But then, Felix was not most people. 


End file.
